Mixed views on proposed bail fund

Plan to release ‘prisoners of poverty’

- SIPHESIHLE BUTHELEZI

A PROPOSED Bail Fund to assist awaiting trial detainees who cannot afford low bail amounts has drawn mixed reactions from civil society, lawmakers and justice experts, all of whom broadly support the concept but warn that public safety, accountability and careful criteria will be critical.

The Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (JICS) presented the idea to Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services this week, describing the fund as a non-state resource that would provide bail assistance for low-risk detainees.

These are individuals who courts have already assessed and are deemed fit for release but who remain incarcerated simply because they cannot afford bail, often amounts below R1 000.

JICS told MPs that as of June 2025, there were 2 613 detainees in South African correctional centres who had been granted bail under R1 000 but remained behind bars. The inspectorate stated, “They are prisoners of poverty.”

A pilot programme for the fund is set to launch in the Western Cape and will exclude those accused of violent offences, including gender-based violence. Detainees eligible for support will be those deemed not to be a flight risk, not a danger to the public or witnesses and who have a fixed address.

Committee chairperson Kgomotso Anthea Ramolobeng, however, said in some instances it was not a question of affordability, but rather families had chosen not to pay even low bail amounts.

“Our impression was that if they were inside a detention centre, they were out of the family’s hair. We found that in many cases, families of juvenile detainees refused to pay even low bail, saying the youths had caused too much mischief in the community.”